Refraction
by ForeverinWonderland
Summary: Appearances can be deceiving, especially when it comes to Ren Mizushima and Mizuki Yamamoto. What you see may not be a true image of what's inside. Chlorine only makes it worse. But there was one thing they could see clearly, whether they were in the water or not. "These people are crazy." "Yeah, well so are we, Miss Snappy." "I will smack you." "Correction, Miss Slappy."


**Requiem: Short Intros first, I'm Requiem, the idea maker of this story created by my joint account owner, Aria. We've had this idea since, oh, October. … Yeah. I've posted a fic, one I should probably go back and edit, so while this isn't my first official fanfic, it's the first planned multi-chapter fic despite my inner voice saying I should work on improving my writing first… let's just say I'm doing that now. Mizuki is my OC and together with Aria the mother and resident Free fangirl, we make a draft, send it to each other to fatten up or fix before going back and forth for a satisfactory chapter.**

**Aria: Hey peeps! Welcome to my first story! Woot! As Requiem mentioned; I am ze resident Free! fangirl. As such I took great pleasure in writing, editing, producing, and reading this fic ;3 Now my OC is the amazing Ren~ Stare in awe mortals! Muwahahahah... jk. Anywho! I hope you have fun and I shall see you at the end of the chapter~ **

**Warnings: Bad language**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Free! or profit from this and a whole lot of other stuff that I'll just end with "We don't own Free!"**

"There's an archery club."

"Really..?"

Sitting on the roof top of their new school, Iwatobi High, Mizuki Yamamoto and Ren Mizushima lazed around in the shade, a feeling of nonchalance lining their figures.

Against the cool concrete wall of the protruding structure of the door, Mizuki gave a slight nod and a hum of interest. Archery would be… interesting. Both had more than enough arm strength, although aim was another question. Maybe if she got some better glasses, it would work out but… Her head peeked above the cream-coloured school handbook to stare at her best friend.

With pale green eyes staring at her for confirmation, Ren sighed. "Maybe but… I have a feeling that dealing with competitions and stuff would be too much of a hassle…"

Her look of thinly veiled concern didn't escape the notice of Mizuki, though it was repaid by a slight grin and fond eyes.

Nodding back, the girl drew a black line across the name in the school hand book. Ren's intuition was always right. So therefore, they would not try archery.

Already, her friend had rejected the Go club, the tennis club, the basketball club, the art club, and almost everything listed, whether it may be from her own intuition or something either of them lacked.

Peering over the edge to look at her friend, her lips tugged into a slight grin at the scowl lining her friend's face as she laid on her back, gazing up at the clear blue skies.

A gentle breeze swept away her black bangs from her eyes just for a second, and Mizuki let loose a sigh.

" 'Man this is a such a bummer…'" interpreted Ren, "And I have to agree!" With a shout, the brunette leapt onto her feet, stretching her arms up high. "I'm so bored!" Ending on a slight whine, the brown-haired girl gave a pout at the slight snicker that her ears picked up.

"Mizu-chan…"

Immediately, the sitting girl clamped her lips together, before turning her innocently large eyes towards the imposing figure of her friend towering over her.

A hand came down to ruffle her dark coloured bob, as Ren exhaled in exasperation. "You're too cute for your own good…"

"Ren's just too obsessed with cute things."

Said girl gave a gasp before giving an indignant huff. "Cute things make the world go round! Screw money or things like that-"

"Ren."

"-just look at you with your chubby cheeks-

"I'm not a squirrel."

"-and you're so tiny, no… Petite! Like a little hobbit-"

"Goddamnit."

"-and that little button nose-"

"I give up…"

"-frilly outfits like a little doll!"

"…"

"I survive and thrive in this world… All because of-"

"Swimming."

"… What?" Forest eyes, mirroring the quiet girl's own, darted towards Mizuki as Ren stood stock still in disappointment, arms and legs perfectly posed for a dramatic speech.

"There's a new swimming club… I think…"

Careful consideration ran through Ren's mind. There was no problem in physique, of that Ren had made sure of for both her and Mizuki that their bodies were healthy and fit. And the girl's slight stage fright would be easily bypassed with a little encouragement. But…

They had never tried swimming as a sport before. Not here or back home in Canada. Basketball, soccer, heck even football and ping pong! They had tried all manners of clubs and yet…

With a knowing look, Mizuki's voice came out at a small, timid volume. "Swimming… It's pretty fun at the beach but…"

She trusted Ren to make the final decision, like always. And yet, before Ren could shake her head in a "no," she gave a look towards the general direction of the school's outdoor pool.

Even having just transferred halfway through the year, she could tell that the club was fairly brand new, spotting only a handful of people by the pool, whether they were swimming or stood by the side.

Out of habit, her teeth bit down on her lip as she hummed in curiosity. There was something in the back of her mind that perked her sense of intrigue as the brunette stared from across the rail on the balcony, down to the pool where she could see…

… Was somebody flailing like a headless chicken down there?

Mizuki stared at her friend, who wore a rather rare expression of sheer amusement, a large grin stretched across her face. Eyes bright with joy, the girl began to snicker into the palm of her hand as her face pressed close against the chain-link fence.

It had a slight tone of mocking but…

How long had it been since Ren's smile reached her eyes?

Turning curious eyes towards the general direction her friend was looking at, she could just barely make out floundering arms of some poor soul getting splashed to death, with a bystander just drifting across the pool's surface like his fellow club member wasn't getting attacked.

Under the bright sunlight of the summer sun, someone else ran out, arms waving like the one in the pool, obviously trying to stop the splashing before disappearing abruptly underneath the water's surface from their spot at the pool edge.

It was utter chaos, but in a good way, she supposed.

_'Good way as in no one was getting hurt,' _said a quiet thought.

Of course, she'd never say something like that out loud.

Mizuki could feel her face shifting into a deadpan expression as she stared at the spectacle from above.

"… Bullying..?"

It was definitely not, but exaggerations had their own appeal.

A thump answered as Ren was guffawing on the floor, a song of stifled laughter and wheezes that Mizuki had not heard in a long time.

_'... It wasn't that funny, was it?'_

From the sight of her friend dying on the ground, Mizuki tried squinting to see what was making her friend laugh so much, and strained her ears to try and listen to the squawking coming from the pool.

The hell was Ren laughing about?

Staring hard at her friend who was slowing down in her wheezing laughter, something clicked in her head. Although it was a simple notion born of only instinct and previous experience, it was enough for Mizuki to bend over to smack her friend's face with resigned disapproval.

"Ouch!"

_'She wasn't laughing at my attempted joke...'_

"Get your head outta the gutter, Ren…"

_'But it's still nice to hear her laugh again...'_

* * *

School was let out but Ren and Mizuki, not wanting to head home quite yet, were still wandering around the school grounds. While they hadn't decided yet what club to join, they were mostly leaning towards the swim club.

There was the slight risk of being found by the Disciplinary committee of Iwatobi, but Ren hummed loudly as they sauntered through the empty halls, posture confident, fingers slightly twitching towards the papers in her satchel at the slightest sound.

'_We were simply getting to know the school buildings before our enrolment tomorrow! After all, we couldn't disturb the classes with our wandering amok during school hours, could we?'_

Perfect excuse.

With a lazy grin, Ren skipped ahead, leaving Mizuki to sigh and follow her fast pace from the first floor to outside, eyes trained on something ahead.

"Mizuki, look."

Watching her friend immediately turn her head at the command, Ren let out a small snicker. _'Like a little puppy…'_

Meanwhile, Mizuki stared straight ahead, squinting her eyes to see…

…

"Ren..? Does this mean-"

The swimming team seemed like chaos. Loud and annoying, filled with people full of fragile goals and dreams and false camaderie.

All things she had no desire to see. Once was enough.

Club after club, everything just blurred together. It didn't matter which sport or who her teammates were, everything just seemed so stupid.

But if she were to voice those sentiments, Mizuki would just look at her, like she was disappointed or concerned or something idiotic like that.

Mizuki was smart enough to look through her facade, but apparently not enough to tell that Ren was perfectly fine.

Twirling on one foot, Ren swung her hands with a resounding "SLAP" to Mizuki's cheeks, squishing and smooshing them like the grandma everyone loathed to visit.

"W-Wen, 'ou're swishin' meh…"

"Wen?"

"W-wen!"

And there went another slap. Or slaps.

"SHIT!"

Rubbing her sore cheeks, Mizuki glowered at the pouting Ren who waved her stinging hands.

"What the heck was that for?!"

"My cheeks hurt."

"My HANDS hurt!"

"Yeah they look pretty red. Must hurt. Like my cheeks."

"You asked such an obvious question though! We've known each other for, what, a decade?! You should know my thoughts through sheer gut instinct by now!"

"No. My stomach is not reading your mind, it's too busy thinking about food right now.

"Do you _have _to eat every day after school? Thinking doesn't take that much effort does it?"

"I like food. You like lemons. Don't judge me. We've both got our guilty pleasures."

Ren blew a raspberry at the stoic faced Mizuki. "Fine! I'll just join the swim club by myself if you're gonna be that way!"

For a mere second, a flicker of concern and pain swept across Mizuki's face, but with the teasing grin on Ren's face and _'heck she just blew a raspberry at me!'_ Mizuki let a façade of disinterest cover her face. "Oh joy…"

"I'm being se-ri-ous!"

"What, you're going to climb onto the fence and dash off into the sunset?"

"Sounds romantic enough! Let's do it!"

"Leave me be."

"_Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed~!"_

"You pushed me off the wrong side of the bed."

…

"You sound like you're snickering at me. You are snickering at me."

"Pfft."

"… Stop snickering at me!"

From a few steps away on the top of the chain link fence, Ren watched the switch of emotions from that dark flicker to fake nonchalance to utterly adorable annoyance before blowing out a loud "Puh!" from her grinning mouth to let out the feeling of childishness to fade away.

Sober look resting on her face now, Ren walked along the top of the fence, mind half there as she talked to Mizuki, "I think we should do it. Join the swim club, I mean."

_'Because why the frick not.'_

Mizuki sighed,"You just had to clarify."

_'Are we going to try it then leave again?'_

"Just making sure." An indifferent shrug from Ren.

_'They're... different.'_

The response was a resigned from her dark-haired companion. "I'll smack you."

_'Okay then.'_

"How mean! But still… The pros outweigh the cons and my instincts tell me it's right"

Mizuki, walking next the Ren but on the ground, nodded in response. Ren had given the final word and that was that. Mizuki would follow her lead. "So, will we ask to join tomorrow then?" she asked.

Ren nodded an energetic, "Yup!"

She smiled, teeth on full-display as opposed to the minute upturn of Mizuki's lips, then went back to concentrating on keeping her balance, a hint of jittery anticipation bringing a hum from her throat.

Unbeknownst to Mizuki, they'd gotten closer to the swimming pool, and as Ren and Mizuki walked past, the latter not really paying attention, the swim club was in their sights.

"Time! 26.84 seconds!"

"Is that good Go-"

"Kou! And to be honest, hmm…" **[1]**

"Eh? What does that mean?"

"Well Nagisa-senpai, a 'hmm' can be interpreted as both bad and good, however seeing as she hummed it with a rather-"

"Um."

"Yes, something like what Makoto-senpai just did-"

"No it's not that, Rei. There's s-someone walking along the fence."

Together, Gou, Nagisa and Rei looked up from their contemplative states, with Haru throwing a brief look from inside the pool.

With synchronised movements, they all swerved their heads towards the distant figure sauntering across the chain link fence, arms held out like a plane with a slight hint of sound coming from their direction.

They watched for a moment, just staring at the spectacle before catching the sound of a, "Hey watch this!"

Worry written on his face from experience of his little brother, Ren's more thoughtless and clumsy stunts egged on by Ran, Makoto was about to call out to them just in time for the figure to swing their arms up and leap into the air-

"AHHH!"

-and fell.

"SHIT!"

"Ren!"

Concern turned into full out panic as the Iwatobi members scattered, with the swimmers heading towards the sight of the fall, as Gou rushed into the club room in search of any needed equipment to help.

With the sedate pace and a slight wrinkle on his brow, Haru jogged up to see-

"Who was the one who yelled and threw off Ren."

It was a demand, not a question that came snarling from the lips of a dark-haired girl with an equally dark look clouding her face as she huddled close towards a brunette, who was clearly nursing an ankle already red and swollen.

"Oi! Giant!" Ren barked at Makoto ("Eh?"), glaring at the tall boy, who in turn cowered back slightly. "What the frick were you thinking, hollering at me while I was trying to concentrate?!"

"E-Eh? I-I w-wasn't the one to yell, but is your arm o-okay? It l-looks-" the moment Makoto took a step closer to assess the injury, Ren hissed.

"Away with thee, giant! Thou of abnormal height, I shy from thy immense shadow which blocks the rays from which I bask in!"

…

_Slap!_

"Goddamnit Mizu-chan! Injured person here, I mean, foul wench! You dare lay a hand on m-"

A high-pitched voice cut in, rambling with a hint of hyperactiveness,"Rei-chan! What do I do?! I yelled and then she fell and now she seems all weird and whatifIbrokeherwhatdoIdoHaru-chanMako-chanImpanicking!"

A glint reflected off Rei's glasses as he turned. "There's no need to fear Nagisa-senpai… Gou-senpai! We don't need an emergency kit, but an ambulance! It appears that the victim has sustained irreparable brain damage-"

_Slap!_

"Ren's not hurt-"

Haru deadpanned, "Her ankle."

"-shut it. She's just being weird."

As Rei laid one arm against the fence and the other to the bump on his head, Haru, Nagisa and the rather violent Mizuki turned to a blank-faced Ren, who ignored the calls of the green-haired giant as he assessed the injury.

"-are you sure you don't feel anything?!"

"Hey!" Ren hollered, eyes trained on a frozen Nagisa. "You made me fall?"

A frantic edge entered his nod, mind ready to activate his puppy eyes because girls were weak to that stuff, right and _ohgodhefeelssobadbut-_

"… Come here."

Ignoring the faintly muttered, "Damnit," from the brunette's friend, Nagisa walked hesitantly past the distant Haru and fussing Makoto to crouch by the girl's side, a strange feeling broiling in his stomach and a lump in his throat.

"You…" Nagisa was stock still, sweat dripping down his neck in anticipation.

"… are so CUTE!"

With the close proximity, Ren threw her arms around Nagisa's neck, nuzzling like a cat into his hair and _holycrapwasshepurring?!_

"You're so tiny, like Mizu-chan, and your hair is so SOFT-"

"Damnit."

"-and your eyes are so round and innocent-"

"Haru..? What's going on?"

"-voice is so adorable-"

"I'm going back to the pool."

"-want to dress you up like-"

"Ah! Nagisa's choking!"

Just a few steps away, Gou stood, exasperation colouring her face as she was surrounded by dorks, although there seemed to be at least one sane person-

"Hey." Gou turned to the dark-haired girl. "Your name is Go-"

"Kou."

"… Kou."

"Thank you."

At last, someone who got it right! Maybe she could be the sane one amongst these crazy Iwatobi boys-

"Got any tranquilizers in that box?" A thumb was flung callously in the direction of a squealing brunette with the blonde it what worked as a chokehold/hug.

…

'_Ah right,'_ Gou chuckled lightly, _'this is the Iwatobi swim club. Everybody's messed up!'_

While the rest of the swim team looked a mix of exasperation and panic, Mizuki smiled slightly, amused. '_This'll take some explaining' _she thought, shaking her head slightly. '_But we'll fit in just fine, it seems.'_

'… _Now a chop to the neck should work as well as a tranquilizer, wouldn't it?'_

**[1]- To be honest… I have no clue. Don't know how long the Iwatobi pool is, nor an average time for either 25m or 50m, seeing as I don't swim competitively, I just swim the laps to pass swimming class… if anyone would like to help, can you name your source? Websites, I can research with; people… Meh I'll still have info.**

**Aria: Bam! That was amazing, no? I am quite satisfied with this fic... Now to work on my Dragon Age fic x3**

**Requiem: So we've added on a childish pervert and a violent kuudere to the mix and I've thrown in hints and bits of other stuff for us to expand on to make sure this doesn't turn out to be a 'for fun' fic but more into the type with feels and development much like the much better second season of Free. Bam. Done. I go to sleep now.**

**Review, Favourite, Follow, Ignore, do whatever you like. Constructive criticism will be treasured like any Free fangirl would treasure Rei`s sugary sweet butterfly cookies.**

**Thanks for reading! **


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